Led Zeppelin painted a mural of musical abstractions for 18,000 screaming fans, who buried the first five minutes of the show in continuous applause.

Zeppelin, acknowledged as the world's hottest rock group, finally made it to the Inglewood Forum Tuesday night in the most touted Southland concert since the Rolling Stones. They opened a six-concert stand and will play to 108,000 people - a Forum record.

The British quartet liberally dipped an artistic paint brush into a tasty serving of music which spanned the group's 10-year history. The sight of lead singer Robert Plant, his body absorbing the driving tempo of John Bonham's drum rhythms, brought the crowd to its feet. Plant clearly has made it back after a near-fatal automobile accident which almost ended his career and forced the group into a two-year layoff. He strutted around the stage, blond mane shaking; in crazy tempos, hand on hip and bristling with energy.

They opened with "The Song Remains the Same," the title cut from their latest album for Swan Song. At one point, Plant threw back his head, thrust the microphone against his mouth and yelled. "We finally made it. Last time we were here (the Forum) we played with Bad Company. Tonight — no beating around the bush, we're gonna play 'cause that's what we're here for." And that's exactly what they did for a marathon three-hour set.

Lead guitarist Jimmy Page sizzled. He moved as if he were a puppet on a string, egging the audience on as he wound around the stage like a rubber snake held up by strings. The versatile Page was bathed in laser lights during a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner," a la Jimi Hendrix, but with the staccato phrasing that typifies the Zeppelin style.

Earlier, Page displayed his musical flexibility by playing mandolin in an acoustic portion of the show which saw John Paul Jones etch out some interesting work on a three-neck guitar. Jones, opening on bass, was cool and unassuming, but got down to fast action for a portion of his keyboard solo.

It took a mere 40 minutes to sell out the tickets for five nights at the Forum. Another night was added later. It too sold out within minutes. (The Telegram - June 1977)

Led Zeppelin painted a mural of musical abstractions for 18,000 screaming fans, who buried the first five minutes of the show in continuous applause.

Zeppelin, acknowledged as the world's hottest rock group, finally made it to the Inglewood Forum Tuesday night in the most touted Southland concert since the Rolling Stones. They opened a six-concert stand and will play to 108,000 people - a Forum record.

The British quartet liberally dipped an artistic paint brush into a tasty serving of music which spanned the group's 10-year history. The sight of lead singer Robert Plant, his body absorbing the driving tempo of John Bonham's drum rhythms, brought the crowd to its feet. Plant clearly has made it back after a near-fatal automobile accident which almost ended his career and forced the group into a two-year layoff. He strutted around the stage, blond mane shaking; in crazy tempos, hand on hip and bristling with energy.

They opened with "The Song Remains the Same," the title cut from their latest album for Swan Song. At one point, Plant threw back his head, thrust the microphone against his mouth and yelled. "We finally made it. Last time we were here (the Forum) we played with Bad Company. Tonight — no beating around the bush, we're gonna play 'cause that's what we're here for." And that's exactly what they did for a marathon three-hour set.

Lead guitarist Jimmy Page sizzled. He moved as if he were a puppet on a string, egging the audience on as he wound around the stage like a rubber snake held up by strings. The versatile Page was bathed in laser lights during a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner," a la Jimi Hendrix, but with the staccato phrasing that typifies the Zeppelin style.

Earlier, Page displayed his musical flexibility by playing mandolin in an acoustic portion of the show which saw John Paul Jones etch out some interesting work on a three-neck guitar. Jones, opening on bass, was cool and unassuming, but got down to fast action for a portion of his keyboard solo.

It took a mere 40 minutes to sell out the tickets for five nights at the Forum. Another night was added later. It too sold out within minutes. (The Telegram - June 1977)

Comments

Oh yes, this is a day and night that will live with me forever!!! Nothing, hands down (jaw on ground) can compare to this incredibly wonderful amazingly gifted musicians who are more talented and before their time then anyone i've ever heard or seen before (seen about 50 or more concerts) it was the most beautifulist music and I know when I hear a cut or recording from it because i freeze knowing ive heard this. I realized that they told us it would be recorded. Sure would love to have it. I dont think Robert ever left the stage and him sayin "what havent we played, and heres stuff youve never heard before" thank-you Led Zeppelin and the Ones we have lost that performance was for You!!! Truely an Honor! Sincerely Blessed, Kelly Bates-Nelson. Blondane Love

Great start to my favorite all-time Zeppelin set of shows. Although 1977 was not the tightest of tours (Jimmy would occasionally get his fingers stuck in the strings), the energy level and improvisation are unparalled. LA was Zeps favorite US city and these shows prove it.

SRTS starts off at a frantic pace.....just listen to Bonzo's fills for the first couple of minutes. Sick Again is a little off as Jimmy's guitar gets unplugged for a few seconds. This song has one of my favorite solos at the end (AHHH AHHH AHHH.....AHHH AHHH AHHH). A short intro from Plant and Nobody's Fault explodes! The phasing effect on Page's guitar is so on as Plant sings "Oh Jimmy". Over the Hills usually alternated with In My Time of Dying on this 2nd leg of the tour and this version explains why they named this bootleg "Listen to this Eddie (VH)".......Great echo effect by Jimmy with lightning fast leads. The staple of this tour, Since Ive Been Loving You, was always a great example of guitarist/vocalist interplay. English Blues at it's finest. No Quarter follows and by this stage of the tour the song is averaging 40min. Short piano solo by Jones and then here come Jimmy! Look out as he runs the gamut of emotions with great solos left and right! Bonham and Jones support this improv as Plant stays out of the way until the final "Dogs of Doom are howling more". Jimmy's wah-wah finishes this marathon jam session. Gotta love it!

Ten Years Gone is the transistion into the acoustic set. Jimmy dons the Danalectro for this gem as Jones breaks out his triple-neck. A truly great song in my book. Battle of Evermore is a song I thought could never be duplicated live, but Plant's singing really makes the live version shine. Of course Going to CA is very well received and well played. BC Woman & Bron Y Aur Stomp follow as Jones uses the stand-up for the latter. A rather long Black/White follow and then as Jimmy kicks his chair away, can you say KASHMIR!!!! A masterpiece in the making, this song was created for the live stage. "All I see turns to brown" and "This wasted, wasted land" are some of Plant's greatest lyrics. Very powerful indeed! Moby Dick is another exercise in longevity......my Cd cuts out after about 25min so I don't know exactly how long Bonham plays. Thankfully a rare Heartbreaker (for this tour) follows. Jimmy really tears it up during the bridge section.

The highlight of any Zep show for me is Achilles. Throw in a tremendous Theramin/Guitar solo before it and you have 30min of ZEP heaven. Others may disagree, but Jimmy's guitar playing is so unique during the various sections, especially at the end where the echoplex rings into the opening chords of Achilles. Of course Stairway closes the show and this version does not dissapoint. An encore of WLL>R& R finishes 3.75 hrs of one of the best concerts these guys ever played. Of course this review is just my opionion and I look forward to reading other reviews.

I was sixteen when I went to the Led Zepplin concert at the Forum in L.A. John Bonham threw his drumsticks after a solo. I was sitting third row on the floor and the stick fell right in front of my feet! It was so cool and I have kept it ever since, I am 49 and a die hard fan of Zepplin, my ring tone is whole lotta of love!

I went to the opening night show with my neighbor, Shane, and his buddy, Scott, after skipping the '75 show at Long Beach; I wasn't the fan then that I would become, just two years later.

I'd like to thank the gentleman who exchanged CD copies of this performance for blank CD's (it was a 3 hour show, so the the boot contains 3 CD's, and this gentleman merely asked that I give him 2 blank CD's for each one he used - a VERY fair deal). Thanks to Scott, our driver that night, we missed the first two songs of the set, before finally entering the building during the middle of "Nobody's Fault But Mine." Scott insisted that the 605 freeway would take us to the Forum, and didn't accept our argument until we were several miles north of the 91 freeway. We parked in the former Inglewood Public Golf Course and could hear the band ripping into "The Song Remains the Same" as we sprinted across the fairway, ducking balls along the way. We could hear the band tearing up "Sick Again" from the Forum parking lot, and finally came into the arena behind the stage, just as Robert Plant started blowing on his harp in the middle of "Nobody's Fault But Mine." Thanks to the gentleman with the boots, I now get to enjoy the entire set, including the two opening numbers.

The show itself was great - one of the 3 best concerts I've ever attended (U2's 6-19-83 show at the LA Sports Arena and the Who's Forum show in 1980 (can't recall the date of that one), are the other 2 greatest concerts I've witnessed. I do wish the set list contained gems like "For Your Life," "Candy Store Rock," "Boogie With Stu,""Houses of the Holy" "and Custard Pie," but it was absolutely fantastic. The one truly regretful missing component, though, was the lack of the medley they frequently inserted in "Whole Lotta Love" (or "Bring It On Home," before that) during live shows; nobody plays 50's rock 'n roll better than Zeppelin!

First of six sold out nights at the Forum, and a great show. The Song Remains The Same, Sick Again, Kashmir and Achilles Last Stand are devastating and No Quarter is just the greatest version ever heard! John Bonham was introduced by Plant as "...the man who fought food poisoning and drunk Heineken...". A great show and not merely an opening night, but a great show in its own right. It also comes from the best audience recording ever! In fact the Millard tape sound so great Jimmy used the fragment on the official DVD!

oh man, you don't know how I wish be "a traveller from both time and space" to be right there in that day ... for me this is (if not the best) one of the best concerts I've heard from The Mighty Zeppelin... that start with "The Song Remains The Same" is just DEVASTATING. Bonzo plays the hammer of the gods there and then comes some kind of master battle between him and Page's guitar (powerfully great !!!). And you say you missed that part, man!... However, the whole show was great and all the band members played absolutely brilliant. In fact i made a video-tribute in you tube last year with that amazing begining, with TSRTS. It was in memoriam of the late Bonzo (29 years since their passage towards immortality). For those interested... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml5kqMQv68k

... have used this show and recording to enlighten (and sometimes reprimand) those who couldn't be there and have only TSRTS movie, "legend" or cynicism as a reference

One small observation...the reason Page's guitar drops out at the beginning of "Sick Again" -- and it's actually kind of cool that he thought along these lines -- is that he immediately realized when he played the power chords of the short "Rover" segue that the six string neck was a little out of tune... he stops for a few seconds to tune up silently -- that's why you hear only the rhythm section pound those first hits of "Sick Again" ...then Page is back in after a quick tuning touch-up. He'd just switched over to that neck after "The Song Remains The Same" and rather than play part two of the show's opener slightly out of tune, he sacrificed those first dissonant chords of "Sick Again" and was "on" for the rest.

Not exactly what show I saw. I think it was the opener at the Forum. I think the Waterboys were playing first. Didn't know who the Waterboys were and didn't care. Got there late just to see the end if the Waterboys. Stayed over night at Bullocks in Torrance to buy 3 Tickets for $13.50 each for loge seats! My memory is a little fogged but will never forget Page and his magic! First concert for me! Too bad because every concert after that wasn't nearly as good as the Zep. One of the most memorable moments of my life! If anyone else was there please comment

i attended this show i was 15 years old we had seats to the side of the stage about 20 feet from the stage almost behind it they released these seats the very same day and we got em at ticketronthe guy who taped this show mustve been very close to us cuz you can hear me on the bootleg yelling for heartbreaker between almost every song and i believe thats why it was played becuz it was only one of three performances that tour a magical night indeed

I saw three of the six shows. The first night my bouncer friend let me in the back entrance and i was next to the stage when the band started with The Song Remains the Same - it moved the earth, so loud and powerful. then i grabbed a 3rd row seat and had a great time.

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